South African National Parks (SANParks) is sadly bracing itself for mass booking amendments from residents of various countries across the world, following announcements by several regions – including the UK, US and EU – that they will be imposing travel restrictions in and out of South Africa due to the newly discovered Covid-19 Variant of […]

Johannesburg, 26 November 2021 – On Friday morning the Dutch government announced that South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe have been flagged as a “very-high-risk area where there is a COVID-variant of concern”, Omicron. This means passengers flying KLM from South Africa to the Netherlands will only be permitted to board if they […]

B.1.1.529 has a name. Omicron. The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. After a special assessment today by a Technical Advisory Group to assess if B.1.1.529’s mutations could alter the behaviour of the Covid-19 virus, the new variant – identified in South Africa this week – was designated as a Variant of Concern (VOC) by […]

Belgium says it has detected its first cases of the new ‘super-variant’ B.1.1.529, which South African scientists yesterday announced they had identified in SA. Guardian reporter Ben Quinn tweeted that it was identified in an “unvaccinated young woman who developed mild flu-like symptoms 11 days after traveling to Egypt via Turkey”. She did not report […]

It was inevitable. Within hours of the South African Health Department and NICD confirming that a worrying new variant – B.1.1.529 – has been identified in South Africa, the UK (which only recently removed SA from its Red List) has announced that it is temporarily banning flights from South Africa. Israel has also put a […]

Renowned bioinformatician, Professor Tulio de Oliveira, has issued a plea for billionaires and financial institutions to help Africa and South Africa control and extinguish worrisome variants… such as the B.1.1.529 variant, identified in South Africa, which was confirmed on Thursday, and which apparently has over 30 mutations (compared to Delta which only had two). Prof […]

A survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that African people who have diabetes and contract COVID-19 have a significantly higher chance of dying. WHO Africa Region’s Dr Benido Impouma made the announcement at a media briefing ahead of World Diabetes Day on Sunday, 14 November. Africa has recorded at least 8.5 […]

To encourage more South Africans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, various companies and foundations have come on board to help boost vaccination rates by providing various incentives… including a R100 grocery voucher for adults over the age of 60 who take the vaccine in November. Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla announced that the pilot scheme […]

Speaking to BBC Africa, Hollywood-based South African actress Charlize Theron called on highly vaccinated countries to share vaccine supplies in order to reach the target, noting that the continent has only been able to vaccinate five per cent of its total population. The 46-year-old actress says she believes countries need to share vaccine supplies in […]

South Africa has now passed the 21 million mark for total COVID-19 jabs administered since the start of the country’s vaccination rollout programme. This comes after 205 253 doses were distributed in the past 24 hours, pushing the total to 21 011 187 doses administered to 14 568 927 people. The Department of Health’s data show […]

Some scientists argue it will reduce transmission, but the South African regulator is worried. By James Stent and Gareth Kantor Is South Africa overlooking a vital tool for cutting down Covid infection rates? In April this year, the UK government announced that it would provide free kits for rapid antigen testing to all. People are […]

A total of 34.7% of the adults in South Africa have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Department of Health, 19 668 177 doses have been administered to 13 799 325 eligible vaccinees since the start of the country’s inoculation rollout programme. […]

South Africa’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has gazetted an extension of the National State of Disaster on COVID-19 until 15 November 2021. The Ministry said the decision was taken following consultations with relevant stakeholders and Cabinet approval. “The extension takes into account the need to continue observing all […]

Over 10 million adults in South Africa have been fully vaccinated, as of Monday. This comes after 139 899 either received the one dose of the Johnson & Johnson or two-dose Pfizer vaccine. This means there are now 10 059 118 eligible citizens who are fully jabbed, which translates to 25.28% of the country’s adult […]

South Africans can now download their digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate following the official launch by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla. Addressing a media briefing on government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19 and the national vaccination rollout programme on Friday, the Minister said the certificate could be used for travel and tourism, sport […]

Over 260,000 more people have died in South Africa since May 2020 than expected. This is according to researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC), who estimate that 85 to 95% of these “excess” deaths are directly from Covid. This is nearly three times as high as the official Covid death toll published by the […]

PRETORIA: Following reports in local media on Tuesday that South Africa’s Digital Covid-19 Vaccination Certificates had been launched, many South Africans were frustrated when they unsuccessfully tried to download their new Vaccination Certificates… and were met by System Error messages. It turns out the reports were a little ahead of themselves, and the certificates are […]

South Africa has now crossed the 18 million mark for administered COVID-19 vaccine doses. This comes after the government distributed 184 324 in the past 24 hours. According to the Department of Health, this means the country has now given 18 073 784 vaccines since its rollout programme. Meanwhile, as of Monday, the number of fully vaccinated […]

A South African researcher at Stellenbosch University (SU), Prof Resia Pretorius, appears to have uncovered one of the contributing reasons to the mystery of Long Covid that has puzzled the medical world for the past 18 months! In an article on the SU website, Wilda Fourie-Basson unpacks the ground-breaking news… First evidence of inflammatory micro […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Travellers from South Africa will soon be able to enter the UK without having to pay the exorbitant £2,000 for 10 days in hotel quarantine! British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will open up South Africa and some other countries for hotel quarantine-free travel later this week, The Sunday Telegraph reported, saying that […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night announced that the Department of Health will soon roll out the vaccine certificate as proof that residents have been vaccinated against COVID-19. He also revealed that he has discussed South Africa’s ongoing inclusion on the dreaded Red List with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In a televised address to […]

Following meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council and the President’s Coordinating Council, the SA Cabinet has – to the joy of many South Africans – moved the country from Adjusted Alert Level 2 to Adjusted Alert Level 1 from midnight tonight (Thurs/Fri). President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the news during a ‘family meeting’ on Thursday […]

Residents in Gauteng are being urged to remember to get their second Covid-19 jab! It turns out that more than a MILLION people in the South African province have not returned to receive the second dose of their Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine! Speaking at a pop-up vaccine site in the West Rand on Wednesday, Gauteng Premier […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says passing a time-bound targeted Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver, as proposed by South Africa and India and now supported by many countries around the world, is urgent if the world is to save millions of lives. Addressing the opening of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum – […]

Twenty-one percent of South Africa’s adult population is now fully vaccinated after 6 187 people either received a Johnson & Johnson shot or the second jab of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday. According to the Health Department, South Africa administered 9 419 jabs in the past 24 hours, pushing the total to 16 827 790, […]